‘God, not the flock, pays pastors’

This is our third anniversary. We believe God to move the ministry to the next level. And in moving the ministry to the next level, we had the need to establish structures. In establishing structures, the ministry gets to the point where authorities are being delegated and we now have faithful men and women to […]

This is our third anniversary. We believe God to move the ministry to the next level. And in moving the ministry to the next level, we had the need to establish structures. In establishing structures, the ministry gets to the point where authorities are being delegated and we now have faithful men and women to be ordained to take up key responsibilities in the church.

So in this third year of our ministry, we feel we should begin establish strong structures which include ordination of faithful men and women into the offices of deacon, deaconess and ministerial assistant. All this is packaged in the third anniversary. The tag of our third anniversary is Extreme Power Convention. But the theme of the convention is Rest.

We are trusting that as the Lord has helped us thus far, anyone that will come for this convention will experience Rest. God has helped us procure a piece of land here in Abuja, Gwarinpa. The last two days of this event will be taking place on our land.

With that prophetic move, we feel that there are people who have been trusting God, hoping to own their own properties, these are people whose resources… we believe that it is a miracles for us, after three years for a ministry that is not affiliated to any organisation, not funded by any organisation, which dependends solely on God and the principle of faith—we believe it is out of God’s favour to own a piece of land after three years. We want to use that opportunity to encourage people to key into God’s faithfulness.

Ministering is about people. What has been the experience in ministering your flock?

Ministering is quite challenging but actually a journey of faith and a lot of patience and deep understanding are required because human beings have peculiar personalities as their faces differ. And in dealing with human beings with different characters with different personalities, one is bound to experience the frail nature of mankind. One is bound to experience the unfaithful side of man. One is bound to experience the inconsistent side of man.

Even if we look at our saviour Jesus Christ, he had 12 disciples who had different characters. Thomas doubted practically everything that Jesus Christ said. There was Peter who was always forward—he was the first to say, “I’m going to stay with you till the end,” but was the first to turn his back. Then we had Judas—in spite of all that Christ did, he ended up betraying.

So I believe that if my saviour, my Lord that has called me into ministry had his own challenges with people, then I think it will be unreasonable for me not to consider the fact that humans will always act out their character and nature.

Even though it has been a journey full of challenges, I wouldn’t say I have not seen the other side of mankind. But in it all, the story is that God has brought us thus far and God has been faithful.

People come to church with problems expecting solutions. What kinds of problems have you been tackling here?

Problem is relative. Every human being has different problem. My church members do not have peculiar problems. My church members have the same challenges that every person in any church has. That stretches from the need for healing, the need for deliverance, the need for a better financial life and of course, the need for the salvation of their souls. The needs are enormous but Jesus is our saviour and he always fixes these.

As a young pastor, what would you say to upcoming pastors?

My message is to trust God, to be a people of greatness. But that greatness will come when we move beyond the casual Christian experience into what I call the Covenant Life Experience.

What advice for young people? I served for seven years and after seven years, the Lord asked me to begin this work. I served in Lagos and when it was time for me to move on, the Lord made me to move such that my departure was not controversial.

Number one, be sure that he has called you. Number two, understand the principle surrounding the call. The fact that God has called you does not mean you will succeed. The call is service to God. That is why the bible says seek ye first the kingdom of God.

Before I accepted the call, I had issues—I came out among the best five in my department. I read Electronics and Communications. I coming into ministry is by choice, not by compulsion.

I had problem because if you answer the call of God, people think it is because you want to live on people. I hated the idea of living at the mercy people. I would not do what I have to do because I have to wait for you to pay your tithe or give offertory.

I wanted to choose the path of earning and making money before going into the ministry. But the ways of God are different from our ways. I knew I had to answer the call and I had to settle the matter of who is going to pay me. Is it the ministry or the people I’m going to minister to? God told me he was going to pay me!

Whoever is coming into ministry should understand that it is not the ministry that pays. Ministry’s money is ministry’s money. Your money is your money. It is not the people. When God decides to pay you, he will use people even beyond the flock you pastor as long as your heart is sincere. That’s my story! I’ve put my heart in God—I’ve given everything up and I’ve followed him as my pay master and I’ve never had any reason to regret.